The number of recent near-accidents at the Mumbai airport suggests that there is a dangerously casual attitude to safety by the airport’s managers and civil aviation authorities. This apparent negligence is putting at risk the lives of passengers, cabin crew and pilots.
In the two back-to-back mishaps on Tuesday, there were signs of grave danger waiting to happen and prevented by fate more than proper procedures. At 4.32 pm, Air India’s Goa-Mumbai IC 164 bounced twice before landing. The Airbus 320 had broken two edge lights. Within four minutes, a Kingfisher Bhavnagar-Mumbai IT 4124 with 42 passengers and four crew members skidded and landed on a grassy pitch.
Though some crew members were injured, thankfully there was no loss of life. Last week, a similar incident happened in which two aircrafts were opposite each other on the same taxiway. Primarily, it was a case of the short runway, as the airport is undergoing repairs, which was also quite wet because of Tuesday’s showers.
This prevented the brakes from working properly. There was also a lack of coordination between directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). The DGCA said it had given clear instructions to MIAL to suspend shortened runway operations under wet conditions, which MIAL denied receiving.
As expected, a blame game erupted immediately, each trying to pass the buck. Although a 1700-metre patch of the 3500-metre main runaway has been made available, evidently such an arrangement is far from adequate. Aviation experts feel that it was also luck that a larger plane was not involved as a fuel storage tank lies just 200 metres from the end of this runway and had momentum carried it through, the damage would have been horrific.
An inquiry into the incidents will be held in which the DGCA will question the de-rostered commander and the co-pilot of the Kingfisher flight. The air safety officials will look into the technicalities of the landing such as the aircraft’s speed after landing and the condition of the brakes.
But these measures are hardly enough to inspire confidence: more stringent precautions are required. Three incidents in the last 10 days seemingly did not alert both the MIAL and DGCA to dissolve their differences and bring about more clarity in their communications with each other. With bad weather, a possible cyclone and more rains coupled with the condition of the runways, proper safety is even more imperative.
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